After more than four months at impasse and a negotiation session that lasted nearly all day, teachers and district officials will have to wait once more for a contract settlement.

Talks between Greeley-Evans School District 6 and the Greeley Education Association ended on Friday with officials from the teachers union deciding to mull over the district’s newest offer until Oct. 6. On that day, Andi Lee, president of the Greeley Education Association, said she will call back the mediator to declare the union’s decision.

“They gave us an offer and we did gave them a counter; they gave us a counter to that, so we are actually suspending mediation right now,” Lee said. “The mediator does still retain jurisdiction over this mediation, so the mediation has not failed.”

That latest offer from the district differed from their original stance which called for a salary freeze and only the coverage of increases to employee retirement and health care plans.

On Friday, though, the district offered:

* Coverage of employee retirement and health care plans

* Coverage of educational advancement costs. This is a portion of the salary schedule that offers higher pay for teachers that complete more college credit hours or undergo certain educational training.

* Increase of off-hour training pay from $18 an hour to $25 an hour.

After the session, Wayne Eads, chief operations officer for the district who was involved in the mediation process, said the tone of the negotiations was cordial.

“It’s clear we’ve learned to talk and we’ve exchanged ideas freely and I thought we had positive day, even though we weren’t’ able to reach final agreement.

Lee said she will hold a closed-door meeting on Oct. 1 for members of the Greeley Education Association, which represents the district’s teachers. She said she does not have a time or place selected yet.

“So my next step is I need to hold a member’s meeting so that I can talk with my members and have their feelings guide our decisions,” Lee said.

“So on Oct. 6, I will be calling the mediator back and I’ll know more at that point.”